This exam focuses on topics covered in lecture through and including February 14. These topics include:

• experimental and survey design, but not question wording (Chapter 1 in WW)
• histograms, box plots, correlation, regression, means and SDs (Chapter 2 in WW)
  
• basic probability rules (Chapter 3 in WW, and Section 2 in Supplement)
  
• random variables, expectations, and variances (Chapter 4 in WW, and Section 3 and 4 in Supplement)
  
  Joint distributions and covariances (Chapter 5 in WW, and Section 5 in Supplement) will not be covered on the first midterm.  They will be on the second midterm.
  

Logistics

The exam is in class on Wednesday, February 21.

Write all answers on the exam paper.  Answer all questions concisely and clearly.  Pay attention to instructions that limit the number of sentences you should write when answering.  Extra verbiage may be not be read or may be penalized.

For the exam, you are allowed to use one sheet of 8 by 11 paper filled with any information you want to put on them.  Both sides of the sheet can be used.  You are not permitted to use any other material for the exams, except for a sheet with probabilities from the normal curve.

Bring a calculator to the exam.

Suggestions for Studying

Useful ways to study for these exams include reviewing the extra problems and text problems, and taking the practice exams.  Links to practice problems for the exam and their answers are provided below.  For problems on interpreting graphs, such as ballparking standard deviations or correlations, a good study strategy is to open some of the data sets we used in labs.  Obtain the histograms and box plots (display them horizontally) or scatter plots, but don't look at the means and SDs, and don't compute correlations or fit regression lines.  Then, ballpark the means, SDs, some percentages, correlations, slopes and intercepts, etc.  You can use JMP to check your answers by obtaining the true values.  An even better study strategy is to do this with a study partner, where you make up some multiple choice problems from graphs and your partner makes up others using different graphs.  Then, you trade problems and see if you got the right answers.  There are many problems in the text book, as well as the supplement, that you can use to study for probability related questions.  There are some practice problems related to joint distributions and covariances (Problem 25 and Problem 29).  These topics will not be covered on the first midterm.

Practice problems for midterm 1          Answers to practice problems for midterm 1